by Mike Merolle
(Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.)
Final: Bellport 7, Newfield 0
WP: Danny Rubin (CG shutout, 6 Ks) pic.twitter.com/aRKqeZR4bN— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 13, 2023
The Bellport Clippers once again finished with 10 wins (10-10 record) in their schedule last season. However, head coach Joe Murphy’s team this year has an entirely different look than last year’s. Bellport will play with zero seniors in 2024.
“It will be a very challenging year in the sense that we don’t have any seniors on the squad. I only have two returning players from last year’s squad that are going to be juniors. The rest of the squad will have to come from juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, they will be very young and very inexperienced,” said Murphy.
Last season’s team had ten seniors that impacted different departments of the squad. The only two returning players this season for Murphy are SS/P Nolan Comerford (2025) and CF/P Michael Frankie (2025). The pair spent games batting towards the bottom of the lineup last season but that will most certainly change this season.
RHP Nolan Comerford (Bellport 2025) sat low 80s, T85 with command of his slider at 71 MPH pic.twitter.com/u7b6e89dzR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 16, 2024
“Those are the two guys, my returning guys, who can start and field. We’ll look to them,” added Murphy.
A potential breakout sophomore for Bellport is C/INF Patrick Dunbar (2026). “The kid works very hard at the game. He improves every time he goes out there. He’s very devoted and will have a very good upside down the road in baseball,” said Murphy. He will be starting juniors and sophomores with the possibility of giving freshmen some playing time. Some players recently worked out in the fall and winter as part of training for the upcoming season. Murphy is excited after noting the players’ work ethic. He sees them “developing and getting better as the season goes on.”
This will be Murphy’s 4th season as head coach for Bellport. He took over temporarily in 2019 as an interim and permanently in 2021 after former legendary head coach, Bill Batewell passed away. “He was one of the winningest coaches in Suffolk history. Anyone that knows Suffolk County baseball knows him,” said Murphy.
Bill Batewell’s spirit is still alive on Long Island baseball diamonds.
Several Sachem alumni are serving as head/assist coaches across the island and many came together in April to scrimmage one another in his honor: https://t.co/WnUDnMkdDt
Photo credit @axcessbaseball pic.twitter.com/dCuNixD5oy
— SachemAlumni (@SachemAlumni) April 15, 2023
This season will have many wildcards. Out of all aspects of the team, Murphy’s biggest concern remains the inexperience. “It’s the lack of experience and the youngness of our players. Besides being young, we also lack that strength that a senior player has, and then the numbers. We don’t have a great amount of numbers in our program so we’ll have a smaller roster once again like we’ve had the last several years,” Murphy added.
He hopes that the first two series of the year against Comsewogue and Deer Park will add experience under their belt and improvement for their matchup against West Islip. He notes that West Islip has been a “powerhouse” program in the county for a while. He is also looking forward to facing the reigning Long Island Class A champions, West Babylon. “They’re going to be the standard as to where we are, where we see how far we’ve improved, and how well we can play.”
Bellport will open their league schedule at home against Comsewogue on March 25.
